Russian Market of Railway Carriage Repairing: Competitiveness of Firms in the Era of Digitalization

Abstract

The study is devoted to the analysis of the domestic market for carriage repair services as well as the prospects of its development under the conditions of digitalization. The authors emphasized rolling stock repair due to the ongoing reform of this industry and its transfer to a competitive basis through the development of independent market agents as well as a fully competitive market. Passenger carriage repair is realized by internal departments of the company. As a result of the research, the directions of digital transformation in the freight car repair market were revealed. In particular, it was suggested to introduce electronic document management, the development of a unified electronic register of spare parts and performed works, and the creation of digital “twins” (electronic copies) of freight cars. These measures would greatly decrease the operating costs of rolling stock by streamlining the time to process information about their condition and simplifying procedures for planning maintenance, scheduled repairs, and unscheduled repairs. In the car repair services market, a digital ecosystem is formed as a result of the integration of such digital platforms as automatic control systems, portals of electronic document management, specialized portals, and electronic databases of spare parts and other components. This allows for connections between car repair enterprises, owners of rolling stock, the owner of infrastructure (OJSC Russian Railways), as well as other participants in the market under analysis. These transformations lead to higher service, help to avoid the usage of low-quality spare parts, increase repair quality, and, as a result, increase railway transportation security. The work demonstrates the economic effect of digital ecosystems used for document management and the interaction process between carriage owners and repair enterprises.